Herbalife And MLM Apologists

With the recent breakout of news about Len Clements, I did some looking and it appears that Mr. Clements, who is an MLM advocate, doesn't appear to earn his the majority of his living from MLM. Mr. Clements is free to correct me if I'm in error, but it seems like the leaders and biggest proponents of MLM do not make their living off MLM income, but from selling advice or training to MLM hopefuls. (ergo the old saying that you live with the classes if you sell to the masses).

Even the leaders of the big MLM's such and Herbalife or Amway, apparently make significant incomes not exclusively from Herbalife and Amway, but from selling training materials and conventions. It is my understanding that Robert Kiyosaki was a struggling author until his rich dad books started getting pimped by Amway leaders. All of a sudden he's a best selling author an a (pseudo) financial guru. Many who attended Kiyosaki's seminars have said it's a scam to sell you another more expensive seminar and not much of actual substance of taught.

Is it really a honorable profession to milk MLM hopefuls when their realistic likelihood of success is maybe 1% at best?

Re: Herbalife And MLM Apologists

Originally Posted by Luzer

Is it really a honorable profession to milk MLM hopefuls when their realistic likelihood of success is maybe 1% at best?

For people like us it's obviously not. But for them they don't seem to see a problem with it, they just don't care. And by the looks of it people getting scammed/lured/conned don't care either. So I guess those kind of scams will always exist unless there's laws made to patch these loopholes MLM / ponzi / other scams seem to exploit so well. Giving seminars and speeches is also nothing illegal, we can't blame them for doing that. They have a following willing to pay top dollars to see them speak their non-sense, why would they just look past that revenue stream? It's probably the only legal thing they do, even if it's pure bullshit they're pitching.

Also unless a person is willing to quit, there's nothing you can do to convince them to leave, we've seen it with MAPS; people get hyped over watching ads that earn them pennies and spin a wheel that pays not much more.

Re: Herbalife And MLM Apologists

I agree that those kinds of consulting or training gigs are perfectly legal, but it seems highly unethical to take advantage of hopeful suckers/recruits under the guise that you are trying to help them succeed in MLM.

Re: Herbalife And MLM Apologists

Originally Posted by Luzer

I agree that those kinds of consulting or training gigs are perfectly legal, but it seems highly unethical to take advantage of hopeful suckers/recruits under the guise that you are trying to help them succeed in MLM.

Unfortunately "ethics" has an entirely different meaning for the type of MLMer we're discussing.

Re: Herbalife And MLM Apologists

Originally Posted by littleroundman

Unfortunately "ethics" has an entirely different meaning for the type of MLMer we're discussing.

That's what troubles me about the entire thing. These folks pose as pillars of knowledge an integrity but the stark reality is they are lining their pockets while those they claim to be helping are losing their shirts in MLM. These folks profit even if everyone that heard their speech or received their training ended up broke in MLM.

Re: Herbalife And MLM Apologists

Originally Posted by Luzer

That's what troubles me about the entire thing. These folks pose as pillars of knowledge an integrity but the stark reality is they are lining their pockets while those they claim to be helping are losing their shirts in MLM. These folks profit even if everyone that heard their speech or received their training ended up broke in MLM.

How about guys like Troy Dooly. Guy has the business sense of a turnip but in certain circles he's a well known "expert".

Re: Herbalife And MLM Apologists

There's some good stuff on Seeking Alpha. Like the author in his article (link at end) comparing Multi-Level-Marketing to the proliferation and expansion of strip clubs in Atlanta as the city prepared for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games

I found this exchange in the comments section following the article the other day quite amusing.

Garnaut16 Feb, 09:18 PM

I am one of those people who is 20 years down the track with this beautiful company Herbalife. Helping people get more out of life and as a result, my business continues to grow. That remains my focus.

Because you are on a pension it seems that you previously had a job and have no clue on what it takes to be successful in business so you sit there as a 'keyboard warrior' seemingly great with your theory but not in practicalities.

Because of my continued focus, I wont need to draw a pension and be a liability to my government. That makes me feel good.

Describing yourself as 'Proud MLM-Described "Loser" and Card Carrying Fraud "Hater" must take a lot of energy. A sad way to live your life.

Gary L K17 Feb, 12:11 AM

Garnaut,

Recently at the local fitness park in Thailand I noticed several very healthy, trim women in Hertbalife Spandex leggings, ( herbalife spandex leggings - Google Search ) and a stylish selection of Herbalife day glow shirts. I could see their health and strength as they were moving about 3x faster than me, without signs of strain.The shirts were especially well designed, to catch someones notice, promote Herbalife, in several colors, with different slogans ( http://bit.ly/1MsVUc3 ) and making very good time around the lake. There also was a mixed group of about 30 in Herbalife t-shirts doing warm up exercises. A positive, healthy activity.

A shame they will all lose money, but at least they get some exercise in the fresh air with group support.

Dave Ritchie17 Feb, 06:21 AM

@ Garnaut:

Thank you for your very enlightening and useful response. It reminded me to adjust my SA profile a bit.

I find that if I deconstruct an argument, I can better understand and respond to it. Stripped to its philosophical essence, I gather the following from your comment:
- You've been a proud Herbalife distributor for twenty years.
- Your Herbalife career is focused on helping people get more out of life.
- Your Herbalife business continues to grow as a result.
- Having a J-O-B based career eventually results in exploitive dependence on the government dole, ignorance of what it takes to be successful in business and hence, disqualification as a commenter on business matters.
- Your focus on your business enables you to avoid exploitive dependence on the government dole.
- Conclusion: A career as an Herbalife distributor is practically and morally superior to a J-O-B based career.

Is this a reasonably accurate approximation so far of your argument's essence? (No worries. The personal insults embedded in your post did register with me; and I'm appropriately "crushed". You really showed me, hunh:-)

To be fair, I'll wait as long as until this evening for your response--yes or no (with corrections of course)--before I proceed with my argument.